Microsoft denies report of Office coming to iPad

Microsoft has denied a report which claims to have photographic evidence that Redmond has developed a version of Office to run on the iPad.

Rupert Murdoch’s online and iPad-app titleThe Daily has published a photograph of the software running on an iPad with a ruggedized casing, and saying that a brief hands-on session with the device showed it was carrying Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files. Sources told The Daily that an Android version of Office was also in the cards.

“The Daily story is based on inaccurate rumors and speculation. We have no further comment,” Microsoft’s press team told The Register in an email.

Some iPad owners can already access and edit their Office documents, thanks to third-party software such as CloudOn and Office2 HD. But Microsoft’s chief financial officer Peter Klein refused to be drawn on speculation about Redmond’s plans for Office on iOS when asked about the topic during an analyst call last week.

Microsoft’s denial seems pretty unequivocal, but Redmond is widely believed to be working on a way to port Office to the iPad. It’s a logical step since it doesn’t have a commercially viable tablet operating system of its own, and won’t until Windows 8 comes out for ARM and x86 platforms – and possibly not even then, depending on how the operating system works out. ®